Chris Philips, Ottawa Senators defensemen selected number one in the 1996, has announced his retirement after 19 years. One of few players to play his entire career with one team.

He played his 1179th game on February 5, 2015, beating the former record holder for most games played with the Sens, Daniel Alfredsson (though Alfredsson continues to hold the record if we include playoff games, clinching the title by 7). It was to be his last game due to chronic back problems.

Phillips will continue to work for the organization on the community development, businesses development, and relations with alumni front.

Not surprised by the numbers for Russians, they seem more concerned about making money than winning when they come here (not everyone obviously, but far too many) plus having the second best league in their country means less in the NHL. I'm surprised about Czechs though, figured there would be more than ever in the NHL. The rest seems to be that way it should be...

Not surprised by the numbers for Russians, they seem more concerned about making money than winning when they come here (not everyone obviously, but far too many) plus having the second best league in their country means less in the NHL.

Well, yes, you should be getting paid more if it means prying you away from your home country, especially if the league in your home country isn't that bad.

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Originally Posted by Calgarian

I'm surprised about Czechs though, figured there would be more than ever in the NHL. The rest seems to be that way it should be...

Flames new coach is ex-Canuck assistant coach Glen Gulutzan after Randy Carlisle took the Anaheim job instead. Oh well hiring an ex-Canuck assistant coach worked for Pittsburgh this year .

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Las Vegas expansion received unanimous support from the Exec. Committee. Team is slated for play 2017-2018 pending a vote by the BoG next week. Highly unlikely BoG votes it down after exec. committee voted in favour.

Las Vegas expansion received unanimous support from the Exec. Committee. Team is slated for play 2017-2018 pending a vote by the BoG next week. Highly unlikely BoG votes it down after exec. committee voted in favour.

Las Vegas Knights?

From all accounts, it appears to be Las Vegas Black Knights - which really sounds like a mouthful to me. "Knights" alone would be better.

Don't know about anyone else, but if I'm going to Vegas - the last thing I want to do is watch a hockey game... especially since most games are at night when the city is most lively. The same holds true for an NBA franchise.

I think the only franchise that would work is the NFL. An NFL fan could go to Vegas and take in a game because they're usually played on Sunday afternoons - plus with only 16 regular season games, each game is more meaningful and rare and is an event unto itself. Missing one hockey/basketball/baseball game in a season of 80+ games really isn't a big deal.

The success of any pro sports franchise in any sport relies mostly on support from the home city residents. And it's multi-generational.

Las Vegas consists mostly of a transient population that have zero loyalty to the city, and tourists who are there to party, gamble, and sight-see.

Las Vegas is a black hole for pro sports. The NHL is incredibly short-sighted to expand there, and it's going to bomb.

Locals placed deposits on 14,000 season tickets there. Many of those are multi-year commitments. Of note, during their drive to 14,000, Vegas sold 13,000 before opening season ticket sales up to the casinos. They wanted to be sure that the arena would be full of people interested in actually watching a hockey games instead of several thousand looky-loos given comps by the casinos.

I'm skeptical of the market, but am willing to give it a chance. Unlike Phoenix they will be located in a central location in an actual hockey arena, not ill-suited basketball arena.

Well, yes, you should be getting paid more if it means prying you away from your home country, especially if the league in your home country isn't that bad.

I just find there to be an ego with Russian players that doesn't seem to be there with other countries. They aren't team players, they are selfish. Obviously not all, Datsyuk was the perfect example of this.

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What is the way it should be?

The numbers of American and Scandinavian players. Canada's dominance in the NHL is being slowly eroded away as more players from other countries reach a better level. This is a trend that will only continue as other countries improve their hockey programs. Leagues like the KHL becoming better should further this as well.